Is Russia circumventing Western sanctions on its oil?

Is Russia circumventing Western sanctions on its oil?

Despite the escalation of Western sanctions against Russia, especially on oil, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Western sanctions will not have an impact on his country’s oil exports, and anticipates a significant increase in profits from energy exports this year.

Previously, Europe had decided to ban the import of 90% of Russian oil by the end of the year as part of the sixth package of sanctions.

To which Moscow responded, according to Lavrov, that oil in general is not subject to politics and that there is a demand for it, saying that oil markets do not follow political orders and whims,” ​​as he put it.

Certainly, It seems that Russia has alternative paths to sell its oil, whether to India or China, especially with the easing of the Corona closures in Shanghai, which means an increase in demand for crude.

India has imported 34 million barrels of Russian oil since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which is more than 3 times the value of its total imports from Russia, including other products, in the same period in 2021.

On the other hand, OPEC + had decided to increase its production during the coming months of July and August by 648,000 barrels per day.

In addition, The OPEC + group produces a total of 43.2 million barrels per day, of which Russia’s share is 10.8 million barrels per day.